Lil' Lady
by MusicRocks807
Summary: Raven finally asks why Cyborg keeps calling her that. (CyRae friendship drabble ft. a nickname I'm not sure actually exists in canon.)


**Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. I also don't know if Lil' Lady is even a thing Cy said in the series ever, but for some reason I have it in my head that he does? Maybe that's been absorbed from fanfiction. Either way, I think it's sweet, and the world needs more CyRae friendship so here it is.**

 **EDIT: turns out it wasn't a thing in the series, I got it from TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne's work. Mystery solved :')**

* * *

Cyborg leaned over the T-Car, the bonnet popped over his head. Their last fight with the HIVE had gone horribly wrong for his poor baby; Gizmo had developed a new strain of destructive nano-bots, designed to demolish Cyborg's components from the inside, but had missed and hit the car instead. He had been scraping the little creatures out of the engine for an hour now, and had finally decided they were all gone. A few spritzes of his repellent spray to ensure any survivors couldn't feed, and he just had to do reconnect it all.

Raven handed him the next tool before he even turned to ask for it, taking the scraper and the spray bottle in return. He smiled. He never would have thought it, but Raven had proved an exceptional assistant in the garage, and was a surprisingly fast learner. Once or twice he had even left her to complete check-ups on the car herself, while he caught up on some work or (more likely) played a video game with Beast Boy. She seemed to like the peace of the garage, where there was no expectation to socialise beyond asking for a certain tool, and he liked the company of someone who wouldn't interfere. It was a nice arrangement, really.

The job finished for now, he handed the tool back to Raven and shut the bonnet, wiping his hands on the rag she offered him. "All right lil' lady, the car's all fixed up and I am starving. How's about we go grab the others and get some jumbo-sized pizzas?"

Raven nodded silently, lowering herself off the countertop she sat on. She pulled her cloak tighter around her and he wanted to reach for her shoulder, but moved to clean his hands properly first. He was about to ask if she was okay when she spoke, voice low and almost inaudible, "Why do you call me that?"

He blinked, brain whirring to catch up. "Huh?"

"Why do you call me that?" She repeated.

"What, lil' lady?" When she nodded, he still had no idea what to say. "Honestly? I don't know. It's a nickname. I like nicknames. That's… pretty much all there is to it."

She considered his answer for a moment, weighing it up, before she nodded. "Okay."

He waited for her to continue, because surely not even Raven would just leave this conversation there, but true to form she was already walking out of the room. Cyborg rolled his eyes; he loved Raven just the way she was, and he would never dream of asking her to change, but man could she be difficult. After quickly packing away his toolbox, he hurried after her, catching her in the Tower's elevator. Why she used it when she could just teleport he didn't know, but he was grateful.

"Whoa, hold the door!" He barged through, knocking her back in his haste. "Sorry 'bout that. Didn't want to wait for it to come down again."

"Understandable," she agreed.

Her hood was down – she had been wearing it like that a lot more recently, it was good to see, but it also showed him the unease in her expression. She must have figured that out, because she moved to pull it up before he stopped her.

"Rae, if it's a problem, I'll call you something else," he said with a sigh. "I just never saw any harm in it."

"There isn't any harm in it."

"Then what's wrong?" He pressed.

"I…" Raven's voice faltered, so she cleared her throat. "I don't know."

Without even thinking about it, he slung an arm around her. "Is it nicknames in general? You don't usually seem to mind 'Rae'. Well, unless BB says it – see what I mean? Nicknaming is just a habit."

"Nicknaming is fine, Cyborg." She offered him a tiny smile, and it was such a big gesture from her that he grinned. "It's just… hard for me to accept."

"The name is?" Confusion clouded over him, but he knew enough about Raven not to ask why. "Well like I said, I don't have to use it. If it upsets you-"

"No, it's not the name."

The elevator dinged, signalling the arrival of their floor. The doors began to open and Cyborg panicked, not wanting to lose this rare moment of Raven opening up. He hastily pressed the button for the basement again and the doors closed, with only a glimpse of a very bemused Robin.

She glanced at him with either annoyance or amusement, and he smiled sheepishly. "You were saying?"

They were almost back down to the basement when she answered, "Nicknames are very personal. Personal things… scare me."

"Well…" The elevator doors dinged open, but neither of them paid them any mind. "Personal things don't have to scare you anymore, right?"

"They don't need to, but they still do." Her shoulders shrank in on her, making her seem even smaller than she already was beside him. "I'm working on it."

"Okay." Cyborg leaned away from her, slouching back against the wall of the elevator. "So should I keep doing it or not?"

Raven bit her lip, hesitating. "Keep doing it. I like it."

"Got it, lil' lady," he replied with a smirk.

She gave a half-laugh, the kind of laugh that would seem fake if it came from anybody other than Raven. He patted her on the back as he reached over to press the button, trying to think of an excuse to tell Robin. They fell into a comfortable silence again as the elevator groaned upwards. When they reached the main floor, Robin still standing awkwardly by the doors, he squeezed her shoulder and strode into the hallway.

"All right, who's up for pizza?"


End file.
